Inventory of artisanal fishery communities in the Western & Central Mediterranean

For years, the impoverishment of artisanal fishery in the Mediterranean countries has been frequently reported at all levels when the urgency for intervention was systematically highlighted. In addition, it has also bee reiterated that, at present, there is not enough knowledge either of the primary or secondary magnitudes of artisanal fishery or of the normative and managerial tools that cover the entire spectrum of competence.
It is, therefore, extremely important to document all the elements that influence and interact directly or indirectly with artisanal fisheries. During the project Cooperation Networks to Facilitate Coordination to Support Fisheries Management in the Western and Central Mediterranean (COPEMED), the first-ever inventory of regional artisanal fishery communities in the Central and Western Mediterranean was implemented.
Most of the results of this very comprehensive inventory are presented in this paper.